Moana Waialiki
“''The ocean chose me for a reason!” ―Moana '''Moana Waialiki' is the protagonist of Disney's 2016 animated feature film of the same name. Born on the island village of Motunui, Moana is the daughter of Chief Tui and Sina, with an inherited love for the seas and voyaging. When her island becomes endangered due to the theft of the heart of Te Fiti at the hands of the demigod Maui, Moana is chosen by the ocean to journey across Oceania to the island of Te Fiti to restore the heart and save her people. Background Moana is a 16-year-old South Pacific princess, living in a village with her protective father, Chief Tui, and supportive grandmother. The latter often tells Moana stories of the mythical god, Maui, epic voyages the people of her village once regularly embarked upon, and an island connected to such journeys. Inspired by these stories, Moana wants to know why her people stopped exploring the world beyond their village's reef, something Tui is not willing to tell. After the death of her grandmother, Moana is driven to leave the village in search of the mythical island, in hopes of uncovering the secrets of her heritage, while also connecting with it; accompanied by her piglet companion, Pua, and a cranky, stowaway rooster known as Hei Hei. Personality Moana, as Gramma Tala describes, "stands out from the crowd". She is adventurous, headstrong, practically fearless, and physically capable. Though she has moments of self-doubt, she has great pride in who she is, and is generally too stubborn to back away from new challenges. Moana approaches new experiences and tasks with the utmost seriousness and will stand her ground to fight for what she values until all is lost. She can present herself as an imposing force despite her size and has bested the most fearsome beasts and impossible obstacles across the seas of Oceania while relying almost solely on her own intelligence. For all her strengths, Moana suffers from major identity crises. Surrounded by a loving family and a supportive community of neighbors, Moana cares a great deal for her people, and the village in which she was born and raised. However, she also has a passionate love for the ocean and the idea of voyaging beyond her home island's barrier reef. At the start of the film, voyaging had been prohibited as a means to keep the people of Motunui safe, but even so, Moana's spirited and tenacious attitude kept her dreams of experiencing life beyond her island alive. Despite her forbidden call to the sea, Moana was happily devoted to her village during her time as chief-in-training. An intelligent and resourceful leader, Moana was quick to remedy any problems her village faced, and was masterful in keeping herself composed and optimistic during times of a crisis. When it was revealed that she had been chosen by the ocean to restore the legendary heart of Te Fiti , Moana did not put her focus on the potentially devastating outcome of her mission, but the unity between her love for Motunui and her dream of voyaging in the tradition of her great ancestors. Though this would ultimately benefit all parties, this mindset is perhaps Moana's greatest flaw. In being heroic and deathly devoted to her goals, Moana can be selfish in that she is willing to endanger the lives of others in order to prove she is worth the responsibilities given to her. Both Tui and Maui confront Moana of this during the events of the film, and though she denied both accusations, she knew - deep down - that this was correct. In the end, she ultimately decided to risk her safety only, by taking on the lava demon Te Kā alone, and only allowed others to help her by their own will.